 And the title of our sermon this morning is Lasting Joy Through Godly Sorrow. This is part three in this text, our study of this passage that begins in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 4 and runs through verse 16. And we've been considering in this text how God often produces lasting joy through godly sorrow. So as we complete this morning, our study of this text, we're jumping in midstream, so to speak. And so it would be of benefit for us to remember the circumstances that surround our passage here. After Paul had planted the church in Corinth, soon after Paul had planted the church in Corinth, false teachers infiltrated the church and were leading what amounted to an insurrection, a mutiny in the church there. Paul would later infer in chapter 11 that these false teachers came preaching another Jesus, a different gospel, a different spirit, and with some disturbing success, they began to undermine Paul. They began to attack his ministry, attacking him personally. They were slanderously spreading false accusations, slanderously spreading lies about Paul, and many in Corinth, strangely enough, were being persuaded by these lies. They were giving heed to deceptive doctrines, doctrines of demons, and they were being led away by these false teachers. Many were making shipwreck of their faith in Corinth. Paul is justifiably concerned. So on one visit in particular, a visit that Paul refers to in chapter 2 as the sorrowful or the painful visit, a member in the church there actually challenged Paul openly and sided with the false teachers against him. Rather than coming to Paul's defense, rather than dealing with the man's sin, rather than dealing with the false teachers, the church stood by and they let it happen. They neglected dealing with sin, they neglected dealing with the false teaching that was going on. As a result, their affections for Paul began to wane. Their relationship to Paul was becoming strained. They were becoming estranged from the Lord's apostle. When you undermine the Lord's apostle, you undermine the apostle's message. And they're cutting off their own nose despite their face, so to speak, and doing this. So after Paul's visit, this sorrowful visit, Paul, very concerned, deeply concerned about the church in Corinth, returns to Ephesus immediately and resolves that rather than go and visit them again in sorrow or visit them again in what would certainly be another painful visit, he resolves to write the church a severe rebuke, a stern correction, if you will, for failing in their responsibility to deal with the significant problems they were having there. He writes what is called the severe letter. Now this severe letter, this painful letter, was to be delivered by the hand of Titus. Titus is to take the letter to Corinth, meet up with the members there at the church at Corinth, convey Paul's heart to them, and then Titus is to return to Troas, meet Paul in Troas with a report of how the Corinthians had responded. So as you can imagine, Paul loves this church, loves these people, Paul is greatly anticipating meeting up with Titus and Troas to hear back word of how the Corinthians had responded. Our text now, the second Corinthians chapter 7 verses 4 through 16, is Paul's response to the report that Titus brought back. He didn't meet up with Titus and Troas, and his concern was heightened when Titus didn't show up, so he ended up running into Titus in Macedonia, and Titus brings back a good word from the Corinthian church and how they had responded to Paul's letter. So now our passage, second Corinthians chapter 7 verses 4 through 16, is Paul's response to that report that Titus brought back. Through the means of Paul's rebuke, through the means of the faithfulness of Titus to take on that task of conveying Paul's heart to the Corinthians, the Corinthian church now, by the grace of God, through the enabling of the spirit of God, the Corinthian church has turned from their sin. Godly sorrow has produced in them a genuine repentance. Look with me at verse 8. Paul says, even if I made you sorry with my letter, I don't regret it, though I did regret it, for I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Their sorrow was short-lived. It was temporary. But now, verse 9, I rejoice not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance, for you were made sorry in a godly manner, so that you might suffer loss from us and nothing. Because, verse 10, godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. This is not to be regretted, for the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner. In other words, distinguish for yourselves the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. Observe this very thing, that your sorrow was godward or godly. Look at the diligence that it produced in you. Verse 11, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, and what vindication. And it has finally all come down to this in verse 11. In all things, Paul says, you proved yourselves to be clear in this manner. Their repentance was thoroughgoing repentance. They proved themselves to be clear. Start to finish in this manner. Praise the Lord. Amen? Praise the Lord. Paul and the church at Corinth have been through an ordeal, haven't they? Quite an ordeal together. It has been an ordeal that has produced weeping, tears and mourning and sorrow and grief and anguish of heart. I'm sure there were many hours in prayer that Paul spent on behalf of that church. Ministry in Corinth has been tough going. There have been difficulties in this church from the beginning. And Paul has poured himself out. He references elsewhere that he pours himself out as a drink offering. Blood, sweat, and tears poured out in Corinth on the sacrifice and service of their faith. He references in chapter 6 verse 4 that he has served them in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, and in fastings. In chapter 7 verse 5, he said, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts. Inside were fears. But notice something with me. Even through the difficult and sorrowful circumstances that Paul faced in Corinth, in the midst of their affliction, in the midst of this trial, in the midst of Paul's mourning and weeping and tears and prayer over this people, there is in this passage the consistent and triumphant and persistent testimony of genuine Christian joy. Isn't there joy in the midst of their trial? Joy in the midst of affliction. Paul says in chapter 7 verse 4, I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful because all our tribulation is over. No, right? He's exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. That's an amazing statement, isn't it? The thing that all Paul has been through, and Paul can say in verse 4, I am filled with comfort. He says in verse 6, we were comforted by Titus. In verse 7, we were comforted by how he was comforted by you. Now, was it Titus that was doing the comforting? In one part, yes, but in a major, ultimate part, no. Was it the Corinthians comforting Titus that comforted Paul? In one sense yet, in a micro sense, yes, in a macro sense, no. Ultimately, no. Paul says in verse 8, although I was initially sorry that I had to write that difficult letter, it led to your repentance in verse 9, and now I rejoiced. We rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, verse 13. This is a joy fest. Everybody's rejoicing. Now, verse 16, I rejoice that I have confidence in you and everything. Can you see through the text how there's this thread of joy, Christian joy, unconquerable joy, steadfast joy through these trying circumstances. Consistent, persistent, triumphant, undiluted, inexpressible, lasting, unconquerable joy in the midst of through and on the other side of godly or godward sorrow. You and I in the church, we should be greatly encouraged by that. We should be greatly encouraged by that. We should certainly be instructed by it, right? This is Paul's example. We should follow Paul's example. There's a reason that Paul is joyful in the midst of trial. There's a reason that James can say we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials, when we fall into difficulty. So we should certainly be instructed by this. Maybe this morning you should be convicted by this, right? We tend to grumble, don't we? We tend to complain in our circumstances where Paul is here rejoicing in his. And it's most often that we don't have it as tough as Paul does. Paul's example here should, though, encourage us. This is encouraging to the Christian. Why? Why would it be encouraging to you and I as Christians? Because every genuine Christian, every genuine Christian is involved in Christian ministry. It's not just me or the other elders here that are involved in Christian ministry. It's not just the deacons here that are involved in Christian ministry. If you're a Christian, you're here. You're involved in ministry. You've been given a ministry. Every genuine Christian involved in Christian ministry then will face adversity. Why would this be encouraging to us? Because Paul in the midst of adversity is rejoicing. You will face adversity in your ministry, in your service to the church. You will face difficulty. You will shed tears. You will mourn. You will pour yourself out in prayer and pour yourself out on the service and sacrifice of someone else's faith. And you'll be rejected. You'll be persecuted. You'll be encouraged. You'll be comforted. You're going to face affliction. Dear Christian brother attempts to share the gospel with his family and he's mocked. Your wife threatens to leave you because of your commitment to Christ. A sister you love dearly leaves the church in error. A brother lies paralyzed in a rehab facility due to a botched surgery. The church you love and hatey is flooded by rain broken into by thieves and they put your friend in the hospital. You plead with a husband to love his wife. You plead with the Lord to save your child. You plead with a lost person to turn from their sin. You come alongside someone battling discouragement. And all that was last week, right? Ministry is often a difficult business. Not just difficult for the pastor or difficult for a deacon. Difficult for a Christian. Christian ministry is tough going. Spurgeon once confessed. He said, I'm the subject of depressions of spirits so fearful that I hope none of you ever get to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to. That was Spurgeon. Luther would fall into such depression his wife would start hiding sharp objects in the house. He's concerned that Luther was going to hurt himself. On one occasion, she came into his room in her funeral dress and Luther was startled to see her in her funeral dress and he asked her who had died. And she said, no one, but by the way that you were acting, I thought that God had died. You speak the truth in love and you will be persecuted. And Christians speak the truth in love, don't they? A genuine Christian will open his mouth to speak the truth in love. And when you open your mouth to preach, to speak the truth in love, you will be persecuted. You get involved in the lives of the people at this church and you will face heartbreak. Many of you still feel the pain of that, don't you? Heartbreak. You faithfully serve the Lord Jesus Christ by preaching the gospel and serving his people and you will face affliction. Ministry is difficult. You will battle discouragement. You will be tempted to compromise. You'll feel like at times taking the easy way out. You may even now be taking the easy way out, sitting on the sidelines, not preaching the gospel for fear or not having that conversation for fear or not wanting to get involved because of what it might cost you. And even now, you're sitting on the sidelines, sitting on the bench. You'll avoid evangelism because of a sinful fear of man. You'll doubt that God is working all things together for good. And it's just easier to go through the motions and show up on Sunday and go home the rest of the week, right? Paul himself said that he was downcast, but that's where Paul's example in this text is so encouraging to you and I. It should be because God who comforts the downcast, Paul says, comforted us. And we can say with Paul, I am exceedingly joyful in all my tribulation. I'm not saying that's going to be perfect all the time, right? Right now, you just sort of wave a magic wand and it's this superficial, empty, vapid kind of joy that's not laughing because it's not real. It's not genuine. What I'm saying, what Paul is saying, what Paul is exemplifying in this text is that even in the midst of difficulty and trial and affliction, you can be exceedingly joyful. Exceedingly joyful in all your tribulation. The ESV says it this way, in all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy, Paul says. Now the question is how, Paul? How? How is that possible? Where does that persistent, unconquerable, indomitable joy come from? Joy even in the midst of trials, even in the midst of affliction. Paul actually says this to the Colossians. He says, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you. He tells that to the Colossian church. James says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Where does that joy come from? That solemn or suffering joy, that joy that persists in the midst of trial. There are several answers that are certainly true, right? Several answers to that. Galatians 5 says that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. So if you're yielded to the Spirit, you're depending upon the Spirit, then the Spirit produces joy in the heart and life of a genuine Christian. That joy is certainly produced in the heart of a believer by the Spirit of God, even in the midst of trials, even in the midst of affliction. There's a sense in which joy comes from the promises of God, from the testimony of God to the believer that God is sovereignly in control of all things whatsoever that come to pass, that God is producing good even in the midst of trial, sanctifying us through the trial, working all things together for good. Peter says this. Peter says, we rejoice to the extent that we partake of Christ's sufferings. One of the knowledge that when we suffer, we share in the afflictions of Christ, we fellowship or commune with Christ in his sufferings, and we can rejoice that we partake or fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. So that, Peter says, when his glory is revealed, we may also be glad with exceeding joy. We know what that joy produces. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord puts us in fellowship with the prophets. When we share in their suffering, the Lord himself says, blessed are you when they revile you, when they persecute you, because so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Here, Peter puts us in fellowship with Christ in his suffering. But I want to show you another answer that's revealed in our text. It's revealed right here, this passage, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 4 through 16. And the answer to that is love. Love. How is it that we can have a persistent, unconquerable joy even in the midst of trial? The answer to that is love. Love for those to whom we minister. Love for those to whom we serve. And others focused, others directed, godward, spirit-enabled, Christ-magnifying love. Love that delights in others. Love that delights in truth. Love that delights in Christ. Love that rejoices in the grace of God to others. It's a love for the Lord. It's a love for the Lord's people. And that shows up in your ministry to one another. Why do you serve the Lord? Because I love the Lord and I love God's people, right? What compels the Lord Jesus Christ to kneel before His disciples and wash their feet? It's love. And then He gives them the commandment, as I've loved you, so you also love one another. By this, my disciples are known by their love for one another, right? The answer is love. Now, you might say to yourself or ask the question, how in the world is that possible? Right? It's Paul's love for the church at Corinth. It's Paul's love for those people that has caused him the most grief. Right? It's because he loves them that he's pouring out his heart in anguish over them. It's because he loves them, because he loves the Lord, because he loves the Lord's church, loves the Lord's people, that Paul is concerned over their spiritual state. Well, that's the way it works, isn't it? A love for them, his love for them is the basis for his deep concern. It's the basis for his grief. It's the basis for his sorrow. His love for them is the basis for his tears, his basis for those hours spent in prayer. And at the same time, it's that love for them that is the fuel, the rocket fuel, that drives his joy. I want you to see that from our text. Right? This joy, this joy, the joy that Paul exemplifies here is produced by the Spirit in the heart of one who faithfully serves the Lord by faithfully serving the Lord's people. It's a joy that's not known otherwise. So if you claim to be a Christian and you're not faithfully serving the Lord by preaching the gospel to the lost, or you're not faithfully serving the Lord by serving the Lord's people in the church, this is a joy that you can't know. It's a joy that's known by God's faithful ministers in the work of ministry. It's a joy that's produced by the Spirit in the heart of one who loves the Lord and loves the Lord's people, who loves the gospel, and wants to see people saved. If you preach the gospel, if you love and serve the people here, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And that's going to be revealed to you more as we work through the text. This is a particular joy that's associated with laboring in love for the benefit of another. Right? The joy, the sense of satisfaction that you get from laboring in love for the Lord, for the benefit of your brother or sister in Christ. Or even after you've left the door, you're witnessing that somebody, the door's been slammed in your face, you've been outright rejected. But there's a sense, isn't there? And even walking away from that, that you rejoice in the Lord. Thank you, Lord, that I can have that conversation. Thank you, Lord, that you've saved me. Thank you, Lord, for that divine appointment that allowed me to share the gospel with that person. Right? This is the joy of serving. And it's a joy that's only known through serving like that. It's a joy that wells up in your heart when you see someone else blessed by God. Right? It's a joy that wells up in your heart when you sit in the back of the room and cry your eyes out watching everyone else worship the Lord. Right? Lifting holy hands and praising and worshiping and rejoicing in Christ. It fills your own heart with joy to see that, doesn't it? It's a little foretaste, a little glimpse of what it's going to be like worshiping the Lord in heaven. Right? With a multitude so vast it can't be numbered. And we're all rejoicing in Christ. And our joy is being, is abounding because of the joy of everybody else rejoicing in Christ. It's just a joy fest, isn't it? And this kind of joy is prevalent. It's known on the other side of diligent labor on their behalf. We see that in Paul. Paul pours himself out on the service and sacrifice of their faith and pouring himself out. He comes to experience this comfort from God, this spirit fueled joy. He expresses as much right to the church at Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 19, Paul says, for what is our hope? What is our joy, our crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you, Paul says, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? He says, for you are our glory and our joy. Right? Paul rejoiced at the Lord working in the hearts and lives of those believers. It was his joy or crown of rejoicing. 3rd John, the apostle John tells Gaius in verse 3, I rejoiced greatly when brethren came intensified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy, John says, than to hear that my children walk in truth. I want us to see this from this text. I notice first in our text, beginning in verse 12, that love rejoices in another's good. When you love in this way, love produces joy. It rejoices in another's good. Look at verse 12, Paul says, therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor did I do it for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but so that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. In other words, think with me about verse 12. Paul says, when I wrote that difficult letter to you, it wasn't ultimately for the sake of the man who challenged him openly. It wasn't ultimately desiring his repentance, and even though Paul desired his repentance, even though Paul wanted him to turn from his sin, and even though Paul charged the Corinthians to forgive him, to restore him in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, that wasn't the ultimate reason that Paul wrote this difficult or severe letter to them. Paul speaks of himself in verse 12, where he says that he didn't ultimately write the letter for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong. Though Paul certainly wanted to be reconciled to the Corinthians, and wanted the Corinthians to be reconciled to him. The letter wasn't written ultimately for the sake of that man, and the letter wasn't written ultimately for Paul's sake. It wasn't that Corinthians, you owe me anything, or you owe that guy anything. It wasn't to condemn him, and it wasn't to vindicate me. No, Paul says. He wrote this corrective letter, a letter of rebuked, a severe letter, so that verse 12, our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. I think it's important at the outset here to consider that what's being exemplified by Paul here is actual, practical, others-focused love. In other words, think with me about our context. The love that Paul is exemplifying, the love that Paul is demonstrating is not self-serving love, it's not self-seeking love. This is self-sacrificing love, right? It's not self-interested love, not self-indulgent love. This is self-sacrificing love. This is a love that demonstrated them that has persevered with them through adversity and pain, persevered with them through their sin. This is a love that has suffered long and is kind. This is a love that has not paraded itself, nor has been puffed up, nor has behaved rudely. This is a love that isn't seeking its own, but it's seeking another's good. So this is a genuine love. And think with me. Genuine love says what needs to be said. Genuine love does what must be done. This is a difficult circumstance, and the Corinthians, their conduct warranted a rebuke from the Apostle Paul, warranted a stern correction. Genuine love risks offending in order to do what must be done. In other words, genuine love doesn't just sweep that insidious, wicked, soul-destroying sin under the rug. Genuine love digs it out. It confronts in love. It speaks the truth in love. It risks offending. It does what needs to be done, and it says what needs to be said. Often, if you think about it, its blindness or its pride or its ingratitude on the receiving end of that love that sees it as harsh or unloving. But remember with me, the letter that Paul wrote was a severe letter. It's called a severe letter for a reason. It was a hard letter. There would be many who would receive that letter that be tempted to consider it harsh. But what is it in truth? As we consider the text together, that letter is loving, isn't it? This is the way that you show love. It's the love in truth. The letter also, I want you to consider with me, that the letter was written in a context of love. So Paul had demonstrated, Paul had evidenced his love for them by the way that he had lived and served among them. So this wasn't out of the blue, right? He doesn't know them. They don't know him. And he just dropped this severe letter on them. No, right? Paul had labored and served among them. Paul knew them. They knew Paul. Paul had expressed his heart to them. They had seen his life and his heart for them. So this was a severe letter. It was a hard letter. It was a confronting letter, a rebuking letter, but it was a letter that was written in a context of sacrificial love that had already been demonstrated along the way, right? So husbands, if you're sitting here this morning and you're thinking to yourself, I'm going to go home and have a conversation with my wife and it's going to be loving. And no, you're thinking about it all wrong, right? This is in a context of love. You be loving to your wife. Wives, you're sitting there thinking to yourself, I hope my husband is listening to this. Love your husbands. This is in a context of love. Some of you have made this error, right? And I say this because I've made this error. You see someone who needs a talking to, so to speak. You care about them, you don't know them, but you care about them. And without having invested in them, evidencing love for them, your opening interaction with them is a stern rebuke. No, this letter is in the context of Paul pouring himself out in ministry to these people. He loved them and they knew that he lived. They had forgotten that he loved them in the way that he did. And they've been estranged from him. That's going to be corrected here, but this is in a context of love, right? It's been in a context of love. So think with me, why does Paul write it? Why does Paul write it? Verse 12, so that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. So that our care, the word care there means diligence or earnestness, but that's a demonstration of his love for them, isn't it? It's an expression of his love for them, his diligence on their behalf, his eagerness to help them, his earnestness in ministry to them. This is the care that Paul has shown to them, that being in the sight of God, and it's a demonstration of Paul's love. Now Paul says as much in chapter two. Flip back with me to chapter two and look at verse one there. Paul writes the letter so that they might know how much he loves them and cares for them. Even though that letter is severe and hard, it's a rebuke, it's a severe correction, it's a demonstration of love. Look at verse one, chapter two, verse one. I determined this within myself that I would not come again to you in sorrow after that painful visit that he had made. Verse two, because if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? Practical reason, isn't it? Verse three. And I wrote this very thing to you, lest when I came I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy. Having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. We're brothers and sisters in Christ, and although I was agonizing over this letter, I did this in confidence because my joy is your joy and we're going to rejoice together. Paul is hopeful here. Verse four. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears. In other words, it's not dispassionate. You don't express love dispassionately, do you? Honey, I love you. Doesn't work that way. Expressions of love are passionate. Expressions of love are just that. They're expressions of affection, expressions of love. He wrote to them out of much affliction, wrote to them out of anguish of heart with many tears. This is not heartless. This is not dispassionate. This is not cold or distant. Not that you should be grieved, Paul said, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. That's the purpose that he wrote. That's what he expresses in chapter seven verse 12. That our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. However, I want you to see also, there's a textual variant in verse 12. That reading is the New King James. But if you have an ESV or an NASV, it says this, or something like it. Paul says, I wrote to you in order that your earnestness, in other words, your care Corinthians, your diligence, your eagerness, your love for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. That's interesting, isn't it? It clips that around. Now that variant is more common in the manuscripts than the one I read to you from the New King James. Paul says, I wrote to you in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Now either way, it's an accurate way of thinking about what Paul is saying. In essence, you can't go wrong. Calvin says, John Calvin, he says, my readers are at liberty so far as I am concerned to make the choice of either. Now if you take the more common rendering, that second rendering, which is more common in the manuscripts, you can see the effects of their own sin on their relationship to Paul. Think with me about verse 12 in that way. The Corinthians have lost sight of their affection for the apostle Paul. Apostle Paul has labored among them, preached to them, prayed for them, wept with them. He's been patient with them, long suffering with them, time toward them, compassionate toward them. He has fellowshiped with them. He has been hospitable with them. And the Corinthians have lost sight of their affection for Paul. Paul hasn't lost sight of his affection for them. Paul is crying out in affection for them. But they've lost sight of their affection for Paul. Why does that happen? It happens as a result of sin. It happens as a result of sin. Their earnestness, their care for him has grown cold. They don't love him like they should. They don't love him like they did. His preaching, because of it, isn't getting through like it used to. They're not thinking of him in the same way. It used to be when he walked through the doors of the church, there's a big hug, big smile on their face. Now you walk through the doors of the church and it's, why has your countenance fallen? It's because of sin. It's because of sin. So what is Paul then accomplishing? Thinking about verse 12 that way, what is Paul accomplishing by writing the severe letter to them? Paul writes the letter to chisel away at the concrete of deceit that has been packed around what is now their cold heart. So that, in chiseling away at that concrete, it's so that their true heart attitude toward Paul, right? That which is real, that which is genuine, that which is spirit-enabled, spirit-empowered, that which is unfettered or unrestricted by this sin that has come between them so that their true heart attitude, their true affection, their true love for Paul can be restored or, as Paul says in verse 12, revealed to them in the sight of God. They need to remember why it is that they first loved him, right? They need to remember what it was like when he first preached the gospel, when they were hearing the word of God from the apostle Paul and their hearts burned within them, right? As the hearts of the disciples burned within them as they talked with Christ along the road to Emmaus, right? Paul is preaching the word of God to them and they've grown cold toward Paul. As one said, Paul intends with the letter to take them on a voyage of self-discovery. Paul intends with a severe letter to revive, to revive or rekindle their lost affection, their lost love for him, their love for Paul because of their sin, because of this estrangement has been reduced to a smoldering pile of ashes and Paul wants the Spirit of God to blow through their hearts and ignite the fire again. Now that same kind of thing, we think about that happening in the church. It does happen, happens far too often. That same kind of thing happened with the churches at the church at Galatia. I want you to turn with me to Galatians chapter 4. At this church in Galatia, Paul's teachers had infiltrated the church, they were undermining Paul, they were leading the people away from the gospel and Paul is confronting that in these churches of Galatia. In chapter 4, Luke beginning with me at verse 8, Galatians chapter 4, verse 8. Here's another example of this very thing. Paul says, but then indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. You were pagan idolaters. But now, after you have known God, or rather more precisely, you are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage. You observe days and months and seasons and years. You can see in turning away from apostolic preaching, they're turning away from the gospel. These false teachers have infiltrated these churches. These Judaizers are assaulting these churches and the believers in those churches are turning away from the truth of the gospel, turning away to error, and they're making shipwreck of their faith. They're observing laws, days, months, seasons, years, the ceremonies, the rituals. And Paul says in verse 11, I'm afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. So just like the church at Corinth, Paul has been laboring in love among these churches. Verse 12, brethren, he says, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. You know that because of physical infirmity, I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my trial, which was in my flesh, you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Look at how they loved him, right? The love that they expressed for the apostle Paul, right? The affection that they had for him. You received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Verse 15, what then was the blessing that you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and had given them to me. They loved him. But where has that love gone? Paul asks. Verse 16, Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? What corrupts love like that? Sin corrupts love like that. Error corrupts love like that. Deceit corrupts love like that. They've been given over to fables. They're being turned aside by these wicked false teachers and their love for the apostle Paul. And as a result, their love for the Lord Jesus Christ, their love for the gospel, their love for the truth is growing cold. Paul asked, Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? These false teachers, verse 17, they zealously court you, but for no good. Yes, they want to exclude you that you may be zealous for them, but it is good to be zealous in a good thing always. And not only when I am present with you, my little children. That's a term of impairment, isn't it? Paul loves them, right? My little children for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone for I have doubts about you. Paul, pouring himself out. I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. Paul had done them good. Paul pouring himself out for them. Paul had loved them sacrificially. Paul had preached the gospel to them. Paul had seen fruit in them. Paul had seen the spirit of God working among them. And now what is the result? Their love grows cold. It wanes. View Paul as an enemy because Paul preaches the truth. Well, in Corinth, as a result of Paul's letter, the church repented of their sin. They dealt with that man who had challenged Paul openly. They had dealt with his sin. In chapter two, they restored the man. Paul instructs them to forgive him, to restore him. When Titus delivered the severe letter to them, they received Titus, Paul says, with fear and trembling, with humble repentance, with meekness, receiving the implanted word, which is able to save their souls. They received him well. They turned from their sin. Their desire was to reconcile with Paul. What was the result of that? Look at verse 13, back in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 13. Paul says, therefore, we have been comforted in your comfort, right? Love rejoices in doing others good. Love rejoices in serving others. Love rejoices in seeing the gifts and graces of God at work in your brothers and sisters. And that's the case here, verse 13. Therefore, we have been comforted in your comfort. We rejoice exceedingly more for the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. So a serving, sacrificing, laboring love rejoices in another's good. Do you see? Certainly that takes place in the church, doesn't it? Your brothers and sisters. How much more so than your wife? How much more so than your husband? How much more so parents for your kids, kids for mom and dad, that your joy should explode rejoicing exceedingly at their good, at their comfort. Listen, verse 13. A serving, sacrificing, laboring love doesn't only rejoice in their good. Look in verse 13. A serving, sacrificing, laboring love rejoices in their joy. We rejoice exceedingly more because of the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by it's a joy fest, right? It's a joy fest. Can you imagine how difficult this likely was for Titus? Paul was anguishing over the fact, was concerned over the fact that he wasn't sure how the church at Corinth would respond to his letter, this severe letter. They might reject the letter. They might turn in rebellion, in rejection of Paul. They might not repent. They might turn, Paul was concerned about this, right? That was why Paul was in such holy anxiety over meeting up with Titus to hear word back. But can you imagine how difficult this likely was for Titus himself? There was no doubt on the part of Paul, and certainly Titus, as to how the Corinthians might respond to this. I can hear Titus saying, right, don't kill the messenger. That's where we get that phrase from. Titus comes with a letter. It's Paul's review. Titus is the one delivering it. But Paul says, love is the reason that I wrote, and so therefore I am comforted in your comfort. Love is the reason that Titus took the letter, and so Titus is rejoicing in their comfort, rejoicing in their repentance. Paul says, I am comforted in the comfort, in your comfort, and I'm rejoicing in the joy of Titus. The verb there in verse 13 for comfort is passive. He is comforted, right? It's passive. That's not the Corinthians themselves that are comforting Paul. It's not even Titus himself that is comforting Paul. The verb there in verse 13 is literally, we have been comforted upon your comfort. In other words, it's God who is comforting the downcast. It is the God of all comfort, the Father of all mercies, who comforts us in all our tribulations, chapter one. And where does that comfort lead? At least the joy. At least the joy. We rejoice exceedingly more for the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. Love rejoices in another's good. The word for refreshed, you look at verse 13, the very end of verse 13 there. That word refreshed, very interesting word. The word refreshed carries the sense of taking a short break, a temporary break. In other words, it's not a lasting refreshment or a permanent, rather, a permanent refreshment. Why do you think that is? Why is the refreshment only temporary? Because even after this, there's more to be done, right? The work is never done. It's the temporary refreshment, but listen, there are problems that still exist at Corinth. The work of ministry is never done. There's still problems to contend with at Corinth. There's still problems to contend with at Cornerstone, isn't there? It doesn't end. So if you think at some point or another, we're going to attain to this blissful, sanctified, glorified reality, it's not going to happen. Pastor Michael's not going to come up here one morning and make the announcement, brothers and sisters, we have arrived. The last problem has now been solved, and from here until the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, it's just we're going to enjoy our time together. We are going to enjoy our time together, but it's hard work. It's diligent work. The work doesn't end. We have temporary refreshment, but what is that refreshment prepare us for, strengthen us for? More labor in ministry. More labor in ministry. The comfort of God prepares us for more labor in ministry. All of this, the way that Paul views the circumstances in Corinth, the way that he communicates about this church, communicates about the circumstances on the ground there, really is a practical application of the characteristics or attributes of genuine love, right? This is a practical application. Turn with me back a few pages to 1 Corinthians 13. This is a text that many know well, but I want you to see that what's happening in the church at Corinth and what Paul is doing administering to them is a practical application of this instruction on love in 1 Corinthians 13, beginning in verse four, right? Love suffers long. Paul continues to suffer with his church. He doesn't write them off, right? Listen, I planted that church. I spent 18 months with you there. We got this thing set up. I got everything in order. And then as soon as I leave, you guys are having problems again. You can't keep it straight for one minute. I told you to make your bed by lunchtime. The bed messy again. Paul suffers long. Love suffers long. He doesn't write them off. He doesn't count them out. Love is kind. Love does not envy. It's not for self-gain, selfish ambition that Paul loves them. It's not that Paul is building a name for himself. It's not that Paul revels or glories in being the apostle to the church at Corinth. You know, I'm the apostle to the... That's not... It's not... Doesn't envy. It doesn't puff itself up. It doesn't behave really. It doesn't parade itself. Look at verse five. It does not seek its own. Love seeks another's good. And when love seeks another's good, love rejoices or delights in the good of another, right? We rejoice or we delight in the work of God, in the heart of a brother or sister, right? We rejoice when we see the work of God in the heart of that lost person. It's a cause for joy. Love, verse five, is not provoked. It thinks no evil. There's so much that can be said about this. Does not rejoice in iniquity. It does something about iniquity, right? Love confronts iniquity. Love deals with iniquity. Love repents from iniquity. And love calls for repentance. Love rejoices in the truth, verse six. Love, verse seven, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love rejoices in another's good. Second Corinthians chapter seven. Love also, I want you to see from our texts, rejoices in obedience. Love rejoices in another's good. It suffers long, it's kind. Does not seek its own. Does it parade itself or behavior rudely? Love rejoices in obedience. Does not rejoice in iniquity. Rejoices in holiness. Rejoices in righteousness. Rejoices in the truth. Look at verse 14. Four, Paul says, if in anything I have boasted to him about you, if I have boasted to Titus about you, I'm not ashamed of that. Verse 14, but as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so, our boasting with Titus was found true. In other words, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. You can see that. You can see that in the way that Paul talks about them to Titus behind their backs, right? He is boasting to Titus about them. He in that is knitting together Paul or Titus and the church at Corinth. He's boasting to Titus about them. Don't we do that, right? If you're a genuine believer, you love to see the Lord working in a brother and you're at a fellowship and you're, you know, somebody asks you, have you had a conversation with so and so and you're like, yes, and that is a good brother. You start talking about him behind their back. Have you seen how much that guy has grown? See what the Lord has done? Had this conversation with him? We were talking about the atonement and he is just like exuberant, enjoy what the Lord has done in his life or forgiveness of sins, right? We rejoice in that and we talk about them behind their back in a good way. We're boasting about them. These were the Corinthians that Paul was boasting about to Titus. The thing about the context of that, the Corinthians from our letters in the canon to the church at Corinth were factious. The Corinthians were divisive. They abused many of them spiritual gifts. They took each other to court and that before unbelievers. Some were blaspheming the Lord in observing the Lord suffer. They had tolerated gross sexual immorality in their midst such gross sexual immorality that even the Gentiles would have said that is gross sexual immorality. They were weak and sexless and dealing with all teachers. They were being tossed to and throw that away into error. They were being unloving and disrespectful with regard to Paul. They were in the midst of a severe trial of affliction. And up until Titus had returned with his report, Paul was uncertain as to how it was all going to work out. And yet think about that. Think about the characteristics of that church, what we see on the pages of the New Testament. And yet in Paul, verse 14, there was this undefeated, indomitable, unconquerable optimism and joy related to them. Now think about that for a moment. There was an unconquerable optimism and joy about that church despite all these difficulties and problems. You know, if you have something to say to a brother or a sister, because you're concerned about them, or you see them trailing off or they're having difficulty, and that something that you have to say is because you love them and because you're endeavoring to seek for their good, then by all means go and say it. Speak the truth and love. You go and say it. That's your responsibility. It's your duty. It should also be your delight because you love them. But don't place yourself in the category of those who complained and grumbled in the wilderness. Those that despise the goodness of God to us, their bodies were strewn across the wilderness. God swore in his wrath. They would not enter his rest. Don't complain like those people complained. We have them for our admonition, for our example. This is a blessed church. This is a blessed church. That is your blessed brother or your blessed sister in the Lord. So don't complain. There should be an unconquerable optimism and joy because we serve the Lord Christ. Is that unconquerable optimism or that undefeatable confidence? Is that in you, me, the people here? No, that undefeated, unconquerable optimism or confidence is entirely the Lord. And what the Lord does by his spirit in the hearts of his people, what the Lord does in our church, how the Lord sustains us, works all things together for our good, and has blessed this place. Don't despise the Lord's blessings in a church like this by complaining and grumbling against her. We should have this kind of optimistic joy in boasting about this place to one another. Or have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that? Have you lost that kind of joy and confidence that Paul is expressing in verse 14? Sometimes we need a reminder, right? Sometimes we need a rebuke in order that our care for the Lord's church and for the Lord's people might be revealed to us in the sight of God. In other words, so that whatever sinful, deceitful, discouraging sin has gripped our heart, we need someone to come alongside or the word of God to chisel away at that deceitful concrete, the deceit of that concrete that we've packed around our now cold heart, and we need a reminder to care for, to love, to be confident in the Lord about the Lord's church and the Lord's people. Paul's confidence is not in them. Paul's confidence is in the one who works in them to will and to do according to his good pleasure, right? He doesn't abandon the faith or abandon faith in the one who can raise the dead. Paul bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. One has said that the faithful servant of Christ is possessed by an indomitable, unwavering, confident hope in the power of God's grace to overcome sin in the lives of his people and in transigent optimism that the Holy Spirit can change heart and subdue sin even in the most stubborn believers. So don't write them off, right? Trust the Lord, be patient, suffer long, be kind, they need you. Your brothers and sisters need you. This church needs you. And where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Well, Paul calls their repentance. He calls their response to his letter obedience. Look in verse 15. He calls it obedience. He says in verse 15, his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. Love rejoices in obedience. Titus might have been rejected. If they had treated Paul so spitefully, they might have bristled at Titus coming to them. Paul often had suffered violence in bringing the gospel or preaching the gospel in these places. But the Corinthians received Titus with fear and trembling. Verse 15, with respect, with reverence, with a humble submission, with repentance, with love. They heeded the word that he preached to them from Paul. So what did this interaction do then in verse 15? What did their response, what did Titus, Titus' faithfulness in bringing the word to them, what did their response then, what did this interaction do? It knit them together even more. It says that his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all. This love leads to greater love, which abounds with greater joy, right? It's a joy fest. Forgive me for the bad analogy, but in sales or in business, maybe you've heard of this before, there's something called service recovery, service recovery, where in a business or maybe in a sales deal, you businessmen know exactly what I'm talking about, or in a business where customer service isn't as service oriented as you would like it to be. It's not done well. And so it's called service recovery when you then, in light of that bad circumstance, go above and beyond or take extra steps to ensure that the customer is taken care of, right? It's called service recovery. It's often the case, statistics and research show, that in service recovery, the likelihood of that being a long-term or lasting customer is actually increased by the bad thing that happened. And because of the extra mile taken to repair the service that was bad, right? It's actually increases customer retention when there's good service recovery time in a very bad way that is illustrative of this concept being communicated here by Titus in verse 15. There's this difficult circumstance, these difficult circumstances, this trial of affliction is anguished over their conduct, right? Paul delivers this severe rebuke, this correction that is necessary, Titus takes it to them, delivers it to them, and through that trial, through that difficulty, the Lord actually nits them together even closer than they were before, right? How many times did that happen to you? It's happened to me, right? A brother that you've been through a trial with or been through a difficulty with. By the grace of God, the power of his spirit, that's the only way we can explain it, you love that brother more? You're closer to that brother as a result of that trial and affliction. That love leads to greater love which abounds with greater joy. So in verse 16 then Paul says, therefore, light of all this, I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything. I have confidence in you in everything. This all the while, incidentally, is all tied back to our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8 says, you and I, if you're in Christ, if you turn from your sin, put your faith and trust in Him, then you have been predestined to be conformed into the image of His Son. You've been predestined to be made more like Christ. That's a reference to our sanctification, that in our sanctification the Lord is making us more like Christ. He is chiseling away at the sin which so easily ensnares us. He is chiseling away at the inward corruption that continues to plague us, right? And He is sanctifying us, conforming us into the image of His Son. The more that you and I, as believers in the church, the more that we are conformed to His image, the more that we reflect that image to one another. The more Christ-like that you become with your brothers and sisters. The more Christ-like that you interact with your wife. The more Christ-like that you raise and discipline interact with your children, right? The more Christ-like that you become on the job. The more Christ-like that you become as a student. We become more like Christ. The more that we reflect Him, the more that we glorify Him. The more that we reflect His glory. The more that we reflect His attributes. The more that we reflect His love, His mercy, His compassion, His patience, His kindness. The more that we reflect His holiness. The more that we reflect His hatred for sin. The more that we reflect A love for His people, the more that we reflect Him, and the more that you and I see Christ in one another, the more that we love one another. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm unlovable. What is it that a brother or a sister might love in me? It's Christ in me, and that's the end of the story. What makes you more lovable to a brother or a sister, one who loves the Lord? It's Christ in you. It's that glory reflected. The more that the Lord makes us like Christ, the more that we love one another, the more that we love fellowship with one another, the more that we love our worship together, the more that we love our Sunday lunches, right, and our midweek meetings at our small groups, the more that we love serving one another, right? And when we love one another in that way, in a Christ-like, Christ-exalting, Christ-glorifying way, the more we rejoice in one another, the more we rejoice in Christ when we see Him in you. We rejoice in one another. A lack or a want of conformity to Christ, a lack of Christ likeness is a cause of sorrow and grief. That's what caused the sorrow to begin with in Corinth. That's why Paul is grieved. And their Godward sorrow, their godly sorrow, their Christ-like hatred for sin, their God-given, spirit-enabled, genuine repentance was a cause for great love, great joy. A lack or a want of that is a cause for great concern. If you are here this morning and you never turn from your sin, you are living even now in rebellion to the Lord Jesus Christ, living life for yourself, self-indulgent, self-loving, self-seeking, then God, the one who has made you, the one who has filled your lungs with air, has put food on your table, closed on your back in a roof over your head, the one who has cared for you all these days until now, the one who has been patient with you, long-suffering toward you, God doesn't see Christ in you. He sees the filth of your own sin, your rejection in rebellion against him, and God intends by the man whom he has appointed, intends to judge you because of your sin, your only hope is that you don't stand before him, clothed in the filth of your own righteousness, but that you stand before him clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, that you are being conformed to his image such that at the end of the age, at his return, we are glorified together with him. We anticipate seeing him, why? Because when we see him, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All those not conformed to his image will suffer an eternity of torment because they've rejected that turn from your sin, trust Christ. Know the joy of the selfless joy of Christ loving him, serving him, serving one another. All praise, honor, and glory to the one who has saved us to this kind of love. Amen? Amen. Let's pray together. Take a few moments. Pray. Ask for the Lord's help. Be encouraged, brother, sister. You've never turned from your sin. Cry out to God for repentance and faith. Let's pray.